Historically, vampires and zombies were pretty much the same thing. They were both called revenants. Usually, though, a zombie that rose from the grave was thought to spread disease and death, just like a vampire was thought to do. So what really makes them different?

The vampire is thought to be ethereal and ageless. This is thanks in part to Anne Rice and writer’s like her. She was one of the first to declare the sexuality of the vampire who, after the change, would become untouchably beautiful. They retain who they were in their memories. Though many seem to go bad, corrupted by their new powers, few retain their personality despite the temptations of going dark.

The vampire’s senses were also heightened. Their sight allowed them to see more than a human could. The same occurred for the sense of smell and touch. They are faster, stronger, and more agile once they leave their human shell behind. However, the same mythology traps their movement to the night. They also react strongly to garlic and crosses, anything that belongs to the church. And their gift is typically thought to be a curse.

Zombies on the other hand are thought to be rotting corpses shambling about in their search for brains and flesh. While they were once human beings, any recollection of who they were is gone. They are seen as completely soulless. They have no added abilities except a certain tolerance to pain.

They are relentless, however, and will follow their prey for days in order to get their pound of flesh. Zombies are known to eventually rot, depending on the climate they are in. In cooler weather, the zombie stays together better while in hot climes the rot increases exponentially. However, some zombies in the heat will not rot as much as become mummified. This is more likely in deserts, since the air is drier.

Zombies, unlike vampires, are not controlled by the time of day that they can be active. They prefer darkness, instinctively knowing that their body will decay faster in the sun. But they are not dominated and do not risk bursting into flame if they do go out in the sun.

In my spare time this week, in between working everything else, I decided to make cookies. I ended up modifying an old recipe my gramma gave me because her cookies always came out hard and I like soft cookies. So here ya go:

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I would have to say that the zombie apocalypse is something that no one is really looking forward to. But there are some things that will help with the possibility.

First, know what you are dealing with. There are different types of zombies, which a brief look-a-bout will tell you. You have the classic, slow moving, stupid zombie. This type is generally the kind that rises from the grave and has usually been dead for a while. They will typically be emaciated and covered in dirt from residing beneath the earth.

Next you have the modern zombie. This kind is usually freshly dead. Though members of the classic zombie can be found in herds of this kind, they are more likely to be the reanimated corpses of the recent dead. They aren’t as slow as their classic counterparts, and can break into short-distance runs.

Next is the new zombie. These creatures are reproduced in the same way as their modern cousins. However, they are better able to run and have some semblance of either memory or thinking.

Now that you have a fair idea of what you’re up against, you will want to get down to the main point: Surviving.

The best bet is to be prepared. Stock up now, while you still have time. Pack up non-perishable foods, weapons and ammunition, first aid kits, and water. Water is going to be a problem though. Especially if you run out. Any regular water-source could be contaminated by zombies and there is no way to know what can be done to remove the contaminants.

Don’t pack up weapons that you aren’t familiar with though. You will want to practice regularly with any weapons you prefer. The current fad is to work with crossbows or regular bows and arrows.

Next you want to keep an eye on the news. Look for any outbreaks for any strange viruses and plan accordingly.

Finally, you will want to avoid metropolitan areas. The more dense the population the more likely you will to run into zombies. Smaller populated areas are still hazardous.

Always plan in advance and keep up on anything zombie by purchasing books and reading documents that have anything to do with zombies. Even movies are a good source of information. Just beware of hokey graphics and poor plot lines. Still, you can learn a lot of “do not dos” by watching these flicks.

In amongst all the school work I’ve been facing I have been toying with a blurb for Cleo’s Journal. Let me know what you think.

Blurb:

“Sixteen-year-old Cleopatra Stevens thought she had seen the worst of the virus when she watches one of her teachers die. Then she learns the truth. The virus creates zombies. She manages to survive alone for several days before she is saved by other survivors. She believes the rescue is the answer to all her problems, but it complicates things quickly. Not only is her crush, Gabriel Wilson, among the other survivors, but she meets River Hughs. The situation becomes worse when the leader of the compound shows interest in her and she learns that her father is one of the undead. She will have to make a choice between the safety of her friends and family and her own safety? But can she give up everything that is important to her to make the right choice?”

Now I am off to write a annotated bibliography and edit Day 7. Wish me luck.

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Last night, we had a nice little snowstorm blow through and my mom and I decided to make our yearly winter treat. I decided to share it with you, so that if you get some good powder snow, you can enjoy one of my favorite snacks. I call them Icees.

I don’t know how or when my parents came up with it, but every since I was a little kid, my parents made my brother and I this cold snack using snow, Kool-aid, and a cup of sugar. It has been one of my favorite things about winter for years. I just got my husband into it a couple years ago and he loves it, too.

What you do is get a large bowl (we are talking large, think of your biggest bowl – trust me on this) full of snow. Pour the Kool-aid evenly over the surface of the snow (just use one for best results). Pour a cup, to 1 1/2 cup sugar over the Kool-aid and start mixing. You want the color of the koolaid to distribute evenly through the snow. This, unfortunately, takes a little while. I figure about ten minutes of stirring. Then serve up and enjoy.

It doesn’t work with snow that is starting to melt. It has to be powder snow or the treat doesn’t come out so well.

Here is a tip for anyone who writes: If you are writing your first draft, never stop writing until you are finished. You will lose the drift that you have and be completely unsatisfied with what you come up with when you come back to it later.

Yep, you guessed it, I’ve done it. I found out my mistake when I tried to finish up Cleopatra’s Journal. So now I am very unhappy with the ending. I am currently toying with an ending remake. But there is one problem. I forgot how I wanted to end it, and that is how I got into this mess in the first place. My suggestion, never stop working on your first draft. Even if you only write a few sentences or a handful of words, never ever stop writing until the first draft is finished.

The good news is that I am starting to get the feeling I had when I first started writing it. How? By working through the posts, one day at a time. I know that it’s considered an edit, but it’s still reminding me of what I was doing.

One thing that will happen in a rewrite, or edit, is you will start to think you are the worst writer on the planet. Yep, I’m there, too. I know that there are better ways to write some scenes, only… I can’t think of them.

I am starting to think that first person is not my forte. I like writing in third person, which seems easier. First person, you have to stick with the one person, no matter what. Noticing what they notice, without doing the whole “I looked at so-n-so…” is one of the problems I am facing. I keep thinking I need to make my character notice it first. But then again, I am still in the edit where she is alone, so everything does focus on her. I know I have less of a problem when other people are involved.

Just to let you all know, my edit has gained another 2k words by the end of day 4. The opening, or what I think of as the prologue, to the story dropped three hundred words to boot. Of course, I’m thinking of dropping the intro completely, since everything is reiterated later on.

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I spent most of my morning writing a paper, so my brain is bushed. Today, I thought I would give you guys my collection of short stories. I used to write for Helium.com (I don’t recommend it unless you use it for training your writing abilities) and now that they switched to their new platform, I have given up writing for them. But anyway, I had a ton of short stories on their site. Since I can’t post them here, I am going to link to them. So here ya go:Not Running Away

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Today, I have been working on my school stuff. I have to admit that I hate textbooks. Most of them use terminology that is completely unfamiliar. So, as a student, you end up overwhelmed and confused. What is wrong with these people? They would get better results and students would have an easier time, if these people just wrote in a more common lingo. It’s not rocket science!

But no, I have a typical text-book that has me completely overwhelmed and on top of that the class wants me to write a two- to three-page paper on how a work enters a literary canon. The problem isn’t the length, the problem resides in the fact that I am going to have to figure out how a work actually gets into the canon. And so far… I am finding nothing. The text doesn’t help more than stating that institutions made up of teachers and literary researchers determine how a piece is above and beyond the typical literature of the period. Please tell me how that helps…? I am betting that my best bet would be to ask someone who actually is involved in plugging texts into an anthology, what makes them determine what works? And since that is impossible, I am going to have to have a think about it. (Yes, in that sentence a ‘think’ is used as a noun.)

While I am thinking about it, I am watching some recorded Finding Bigfoot episodes. I bet that will help more than the text does. I wish the people who write out what we are supposed to do for our assignments would actually read the texts they form the assignments on. I mean, they would quickly find out that what they are asking us to do, at least half the time, are impossible. The other half of the time I am left wondering if the teachers actually read the texts that the students are required to read. I swear, the last class I had, the instructor was only reading student comments and basically repeating them back in more ‘intellectual language’.

On an aside, I am still working on Surviving the Apocalypse novel (maybe series) and am still hoping for a completion date of the end of next month. But if I keep getting stumped by the class stuff in the next five weeks, it may be longer before I can finish it. I hope not. I am now wishing for the days that I wasn’t in school. 🙂

I was recently watching an episode of MonsterQuest and I had a thought about bigfoot. What if bigfoot was really a wereape? I know, I know, it’s less likely than bigfoot is. But the reality is just as likely as having a giant primate that is half man half ape in most of these countries. It would explain why human dna commonly shows up in the dna of these animals. It would also explain why they are so hard to find.

And don’t forget that werewolves are still thought to be sighted today!